Toshiba limited edition OLED lamp not for sale

Toshiba has come up with a special OLED lamp designed for emergencies like the quake-stricken areas of Japan. Powered by four AAA batteries or a rechargeable pack that can be changed by solar or USB, it produces 53 lumens of light at 100% and can last two hours on the AAA batteries, twenty if you lower the brightness, and even more is you use the battery pack. Here is where one of the strengths of LED outshines regular light bulbs.

If you’re thinking of picking up one of these lamps for yourself, it looks like you won’t be able to. Toshiba is only making 100 of these lamps and they’re all reserved for disaster victims. You’ll probably have to wait for the whole disaster issue to blow over, and hope somebody is kind enough to auction one of these lamps off on eBay. But then again, a bright OLED panel, high-capacity battery pack that can be recharged by solar power – don’t expect them to be cheap. Folks still interested in donating to the disaster relief fund can do so here.